Forgetting
by Shelley G
Summary: Klaus had done terrible things. She knew that better than most. Still, sometimes she found herself forgetting. AU Season 4.
1. Chapter 1

**AU the basic premise is what if Tyler had actually cheated with Hayley and he and Caroline were actually broken up during season 4. Just a spin on how that would have effected the following course of events. Enjoy!**

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><p>"Yes, well, just know that if Tyler was still sired to me, he never would have hurt you." He met her gaze, his own expression ardent. "I wouldn't have let him."<p>

Caroline woke gasping. She had Twilight-worthy hibby jibbies and she half expected to find her Original stalker lurking in the shadows, watching her sleep. With everything that had happened after his remark that evening, the threats, the deals, near deaths and near misses, promised dates and beheadings, she didn't know why one pointed comment from a person she had every reason to hate, barbed so painfully in her mind.

Why did it matter that he wouldn't have let Tyler hurt her? Why did Klaus even care? Why did she care that he cared? Why did any of it matter? The answer was painfully simple as she admitted it silently to herself, she still couldn't bring herself to admit it aloud, his words mattered because he cared, and he was the only one who cared.

Tyler cheated on her. He cheated on her and he hadn't even paid her the respect of admitting it, even when she was in the same room with him and the slutty she-wolf he'd slept with. All his claims of leaving town for her, for them, going away so he could break the sire bond and be with her, left her with an icky feeling in her gut that made her feel like she needed a shower. Everything he'd ever told her was a lie, and now the once treasured memories left her feeling dirty and used.

Maybe their relationship had started out sincere, but he'd ruined even the good parts with his actions, and made it worse with his dishonesty.

And what did her friends do with the news of her soul-crushing breakup? Did they bring her ice cream and chick flicks and tell her everything was going to be okay? No, they pimped her out once again as Klaus bait. As always, everyone's number one priority was to save Elena.

It wasn't that Caroline hadn't wanted to save her friend. She loved Elena like a sister. And sure, Elena's problems were bigger than her own. She had a dead hunter haunting her, trying to convince her to off herself. Life and death was more pressing than a breakup. But Caroline wished that just once her problems would rank high enough to even one of her friend for them to put her first.

And even as she allowed herself to feel slighted, guilt for her selfishness nagged her. It wasn't their fault that their problems were so much bigger than her own. It wasn't their fault that they didn't have time to soothe her hurt feelings.

Still, it was a tough pill to swallow that Klaus, their arch nemesis Klaus, conveyed sympathy for her pain before any one of her friends thought to.

She knew all the terrible things the Hybrid had done. She knew he was the bad guy and that she should run the other way. He was trouble. He would bring her nothing but trouble in return. That's why she'd been pushing him away with both hands for the past few months. He'd done terrible things. Hurt people she cared about. He'd hurt her too, sic'ing Tyler on her with the sire bond, though he'd also been the one to come to her aid on that occasion. Still, there were moments, brief, terrifying moments when she found herself forgetting what he was and what he'd done. And even worse, there were moments when she found herself wanting to forget.

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><p><strong>Don't want to give too much away, but this idea has been gnawing on my brain for a while. If you can't help but love Klaroline, stay tune!<br>**

**Please Review,**

**Shelley**


	2. Chapter 2

He should be elsewhere. He was arguably the most important man in town, at least the most infamous. He had more pressing things on his plate than wooing a pretty face. He should be focused on finding his way to the cure and turning the doppelgänger back into a blood bag. Fortunately, he'd always been quite good at multitasking.

He would fix the doppelgänger and resume making himself an army of hybrids. They were all he'd ever wanted, after all. An army of monsters exactly like him. A family of his own making, one that wouldn't reject him like every member of his own family had at one point or another.

But now, somehow, there was something he wanted more than his hybrid, something he wanted enough to sacrifice one of them, even now that they had become an endangered species.

He wanted Caroline Forbes.

He hadn't spared her a second thought when he initially met her. He knew that Katherine had intended for him to use the new vampire as a sacrifice to break the curse, and he had intended to do so when she was conveniently chained beside an equally convenient werewolf. When she proved an inconvenient sacrifice, he made new arrangements and she got to live.

Planning to sacrifice her hadn't been personal, neither was opting for a different sacrificial lamb. It also wasn't personal when he force-fed her boyfriend his blood and snapped the were-boy's neck. He needed to make his hybrids work and the Scooby Gang needed incentive to solve the problem. He saw the pain his actions caused her as she waited for the boy she loved to die a second, gruesome death if they didn't find a way to save him in time. He saw her pain and he didn't care. She meant nothing to him. Her and Tyler were just collateral damage.

And then he had her bitten so that he could get what he wanted from her mother the sheriff. He hadn't spared a second thought about hurting her. He had no qualms letting her die. Even as he waited for the sheriff to invite him in, saving the girl was merely a side effect of the deal. But then he went to her room, and there she lay small and weak in her bed, pale even for a vampire. She saw him; the first thing she asked was if he was going to kill her. She thought so low of him that she thought he would kill her on her birthday. And that's when he felt it, the smallest twinge of guilt. Regret that she was hurt and that it had been his doing.

She looked so young, so vulnerable in her bed with a festering wound and poison pumping through her veins. She had so much life to live, despite her still narrowly human perspective on things. And in that moment he wanted her to live it, every second of her eternity. He wanted to save her. He didn't want her to fear him. He wanted her to want to be saved, to want him to save her, so he gave her a grand speech and told her that vampirism meant she was free, but she would have none of it.

And he realized that she meant it, she really did think so low of him as to think that he would let her die on her birthday. And perhaps he would have when she was simply collateral damage, but the twinge struck once again. Because he didn't want her to be the victim. He didn't want to be the villain, at least not her villain, as for the others, well, the others be damned.

He didn't want her to die, more than that, he wanted to know that she wanted to live. He wanted her to crave life. And when she did he gave her his blood, cradling her like she was fragile, and healed her. And that was when he realized how wrong he had been. Because Caroline Forbes was not collateral damage, not anymore, perhaps she never had been, but he was. He thought he could use her as a pawn to get what he wanted. But now she was what he wanted and he didn't know where to begin to get in her good graces.

Even now, he wanted her as he watch from just out of sight as she barked out orders for the preparations for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Striking fear into the hearts of a half dozen helping hands bustling around the Lockwood residence, commanding the tiny fleet with her clipboard. He couldn't help but think that, if she wasn't so intent on being one of the good guys, she would make a terrifying villain. She was quite exquisite in that way, deliciously complex, made up entirely of contradictions. The baby vampire with epic restraint, desperate not to be the monster her parents feared she'd become. But it was the sun which burned brightest that collapsed into itself, becoming a black hole. He wasn't sure what she would become in time, but he was desperate to witness the journey.

But she rejected him, spurned his advances time and time again. Her offenses, which from anyone else would have been paid for with blood, were endearing. He had never intended to develop a serious attachment, managed to avoid it for a millennia, but now things had changed. She was a force of nature. And he was at her mercy.

"Now how did I know I'd find you at the helm of this ship?" Klaus mused as he sauntered up to her, hands clasped behind his back.

"Go away, I'm busy." She replied, barely hazarding a glance at the Original Hybrid.

"I was wonder what time I should pick you up tomorrow." Klaus pressed on, undeterred. He had ignored far more sound rejections from the pretty blonde to be dissuaded so easily.

His remark earned him a satisfying reaction. Her gaze jerked up for a moment, though she didn't look at him, then she resolutely returned her attention to her clipboard.

"How about a quarter to never?" She replied coolly.

Klaus suppressed and amused smirk as he sidled a step closer to her, "I was promised a date in return for one of my hybrids."

He thought it was best to leave it there. Beheadings weren't exactly the direction he hoped their conversation would steer.

She finally turned her attention on him and he savored in it. Her eyes sparkled despite her hostile gaze he could tell she relished in the opportunity to banter. There were other ways that he would have liked her to look at him, but he didn't mind this one, not even when she seemed barely able to keep her contempt in check. He wondered how a dullard like Tyler had managed to amuse her for as long as he had. She was intelligent. She needed and deserved someone who could challenge her, not a small town, small minded high school boy.

"Yes, a date." She said, "Like to a movie, where we don't have to talk and I can put at least three seats between us."

"Well surely the reigning Miss Mystic Falls won't be hosting the party alone, and I'm assuming you're not taking Tyler, not after his indiscretion with lady-wolf friend." Klaus said, attempting to remind her of her recent change in relationship status. He kept his gaze downcast to conceal the glee their breakup gave him, glee that she would likely consider quite tactless.

He looked up to see her reaction. Her expression seemed to war between emotions kept barely in check. The flicker of a smile twitched across her lips, and it struck Klaus as important. That little flicker. A smile that appeared to conceal the hurt she felt. He felt like a starving man, and every detail he could glean about her eased his desperate hunger. But none of it could sate him. No, it would take more than she was willing to give to do that. He didn't mind though, he was a patient man. He could wait. Waiting was a kind of exquisite torture, it only added to the eventual pleasure that would come when he won her.

He wondered how many times she'd used a smile as a mask, a radiant lie. The mask that showed the world what they wanted to see and allowed her to hide behind the façade. He wondered if she knew how much that smile exposed. He wonder if she even knew how long she'd been lying to everyone around her, how long she'd been lying to herself. Because Caroline Forbes wasn't happy, she was just a sad little girl who tried to be everything for everyone, but always wound up with nothing for herself.

Klaus longed to show her that they were wrong, every single person in this town, everyone who took her for granted, everyone who was blind to the lie, but she wasn't ready to let him. At least, not yet. Time would change that, of that he was completely confident. She would surrender to his affections. It was just a matter of time. And time was something he had plenty of.

"Fine, if you insist on coming, meet me here. Two p.m." She whirled around and flounced off, calling over her shoulder, "Black tie optional." She stopped and turned on him, pointing at him threateningly. "And I already have a dress, so don't even think of getting me so much as a corsage, you understand?"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Caroline." Klaus taunted.

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><p><strong>Mostly following the show except with a little insight into Klaus's mind. Don't worry thing will be diverging from the show very soon! <strong>

**Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Caroline buzzed around like an angry hornet, verbally assaulting waiters and musicians alike. If she stopped and thought about it she'd feel bad, but she didn't want to think about it. Thinking was not an option. Thinking would lead to feeling and feeling would lead to crying and that was not okay. She hadn't cried since she found out the truth about Tyler and Hayley. It wasn't like Tyler would know whether or not she cried herself to sleep over him, but that wasn't the point. But she would know. And he wasn't worth her tears.

He cheated.

Cheating was the one thing she could not get past. She had only and would only ever forgive one cheater. Her father. And it wasn't that she was okay with the fact that he left her mother for Stephen, but she had always been so afraid that if she didn't forgive him, accept his choice to leave, that he would go anyway. She had been terrified that he would leave her behind and never think about her again.

She had always been a daddy's girl. Even now that he was gone, she was still a daddy's girl.

But Tyler was no Bill Forbes. Tyler wouldn't be getting a free pass.

And she wouldn't care. He was a dirty, rotten cheat and she was so over him. So what if he picked the were-bitch over her? Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel. Caroline knew the other girl was a slut from the moment she laid eyes on her. If Tyler wanted to go slumming, then good riddance.

She liked to think that she was fooling herself, but she could feel the nagging, human insecurities clawing at her. She wanted so badly to get over those feelings, to leave them behind and never look back. But it's hard to let go of something that had been so ingrained in her personality for so long. Everyone seemed to think now that she was a vampire she was strong and confident, but she wasn't. She was the same girl with the same insecurities. And once again she was second choice.

She was always falling short of someone. For her parents it was the human version of herself. For her friends it was Elena. For Tyler it was Hayley. All she ever wanted was to be someone's first choice. What she realized now was that she probably should have specified that that someone shouldn't be a psychopath.

Caroline raged over her underlings, the tyrant of her own tiny universe. It amused Klaus to see her like this, so charged, so full of life. Real. In her anger, her honesty broke viciously free. It was her honesty that had truly captured his notice. At first, she had simply been a beautiful face. A prize to be won. And conquest to be conquered. When he invited her to his mother's ball he'd intended to seduce her and be done with the little attraction.

But then she had turned on him, sliced him open with her brutal honesty. Using her uncanny intuition to dig inside him and pull out all the broken bits. She saw him for exactly what he was and she hadn't cowered. He didn't scare her, but she terrified him. And he loved it. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, she saw through him with such ease because underneath all her pretext of perfection she was broken in all the same ways.

She told him that because his father hadn't loved him, he didn't think anyone else would. He wondered if that assessment hadn't been a little bit telling of her personal fears.

"And how am I doing?" Klaus asked interrupting the young blond vampire's downward spiral into a full-fledged rampage.

Her gaze snapped to him. She ran him up and down with her meticulous gaze, searching for a flaw. Her expression pinched for just a moment before it smoothed into an exasperated grimace.

"You're… perfect." She admitted. Klaus grinned, broadly. "Which is so beyond annoying I can't even look at you."

Despite her words, she seemed unable to look away. The hint of a smile warmed her eyes.

"They didn't waste time, did they?" He said, fracturing the moment.

Caroline looked around and saw the sight which had caught his attention. Tyler and Hayley crossing the bridge to join the party, hand in hand.

Klaus couldn't help but look for her reaction. Part of him wondered it if was all an act. If the breakup had been faked, another ploy conjured up by her friends to use her as a distraction, but one look at her face told him otherwise. Her lips were pressed tight and her eyes were sad. She looked small, so small. The controlled heartbreak exposed her for exactly how young she was. Still young enough to crumple over the betrayal of a lover.

Klaus knew better. Heartbreak was always a bitter sting, but a few centuries had a way of putting each one in perspective. Not that he'd had his heart broken. Not really. But seeing her so saddened by the wretched hybrid with the nerve to break his sire bond made Klaus want nothing more than to rip the whelp's head clean off. However, Klaus doubted that enough time had passed since she'd loved the boy for Klaus to get away with such action without kindling the wrath of Caroline Forbes.

Instead he reached out and took her hand. And she let him.

Caroline couldn't help it. Her eyes kept seeking out Tyler in the crowd. It was like he was a magnet forever drawing her attention. He and Hayley talked and laughed, flirting madly. She may or may not have overheard them openly mocking the Miss Mystic Fall pageant. Actually, she'd strained her vamp hearing to catch every word.

She felt another twinge of betrayal. Tyler knew she was the former Miss Mystic. He knew the pageant was important to her. Sure he'd cheated, but part of her wanted to think it was a stupid mistake, a mistake that he regretted. She wanted to believe that he had really loved her, respected her. She wanted to believe it because the alternative hurt too much.

It was stupid. She didn't want to care. She soldiered through her pageant director duties with a smile plastered across her face, dealt with the endless supply of Elena/Salvator brother of the week drama, all the while, Klaus trailed along after her. She wished that for just one day she didn't have to deal with everybody else's problems. She wished she could go back, back to when Mystic Falls had been a safe place to live, before the vampires, witches, and werewolves. She was tired of curses and cures, dopplegangers, and foreboding prophecies. She just wanted one normal day.

Apparently that was too much to ask.

Caroline started after Elena, to try and prevent her friend from making yet another incredibly stupid life choice, but Klaus caught her arm.

"What?" She snapped.

"Walk with me." He said.

"No." She said, resisting his hold.

"This is supposed to be a date, sweetheart." He said.

"Yeah, well, I have things to do." She said.

"Unless I am mistaken, your duties as pageant director have all been fulfilled. Quite eloquently I might add." He said. "You're done."

"Elena…"

"Is a big girl." Klaus cut her off. "She can handle her own problems for one evening, don't you think?"

Caroline huffed because she couldn't think of any other arguments, besides the obvious. She didn't want to be alone with Klaus. It wasn't that she was worried about what he might do to her. He wasn't going to hurt her. If he'd wanted to hurt her he'd had plenty of opportunities on occasions when she'd given him much more reason. But she'd told him once that she was too smart to be seduced by him. She didn't want to give him the opportunity to prove her wrong. Because when she'd said that she'd been in love and securely in a relationship. Now she was lonely and rejected. She had a habit of making bad choices when she let her insecurities get the better of her and she couldn't help but worry that her impeccable self-control might meet its match with Klaus Mikaelson.

Reluctantly, she nodded her surrender and Klaus released her arm.

He held out his arm for her to take, "Walk with me?"

She was startled by the fact that this time it was a request rather than a demand. She slipped her hand through the crook of his arm and lightly wrapped her fingers around his bicep. He smirk, his "I won" smirk that infuriated her, but she couldn't help but feel a little flattered when he saw her companionship as such a lofty prize.

There were a lot of things not to like about Klaus, but he did know how to make a girl feel special.

He whisked her away from the party, snatching a bottle of champagne and a couple glasses as they retreated across the bridge and wandered the grassy grounds. Silently they traipsed across the property.

Not one for silence, Caroline started talking, and once she started she found it hard to stop. Because he was an incredible listener, and she'd missed having someone listen to, someone who wanted to hear what she had to say. It was intoxicating.

He smirked at her as she railed on about her problems. They were small, trivial, and so human. He slowly corralled her further from the gathering, carrying the champagne as she used wild arm gestures to convey the gravity of the situation between Elena and Damon. Klaus didn't care in the slightest, but he adored the sound of her voice and he found the way she cared so much about things that wouldn't matter in the slightest a few weeks from now, let alone years, endearing. But then again, he found almost everything about her endearing.

She was a mess of complicated contradictions. She was insecure, borderline neurotic. She was vapid and sometimes incredibly shallow. But she had infinite potential. She was a constellation of possibilities, a galaxy of promise. She could become so much than what she now was, something truly special. Far more special than the doppelgänger all her friends fawned over. Or the insipid witch who had about as much foresight as a fly about to collide with a spider's web. He only hoped that he could convince her to allow him to watch her become all that she could be.

"So being a vampire has changed her." Klaus summarized her rant about the doppelgänger. The moment Elena Gilbert's human heart stopped beating, she became entirely useless to him and his interest in any aspect of her life was ended, unless he could find the cure and shove it down her throat.

"But being a vampire only amplifies who you already are." Caroline argued. "It doesn't turn you into a completely different person."

"That's very peculiar." He said, amused that he was the only one who seemed to have realized how closely the doppelgänger's behavior mirrored that of his sired hybrids. So desperate for the approval of the one who created them.

"What's that look for?" She asked.

"It will all make sense eventually."

"Whatever," She said, sinking down onto a bench. "Just hurry up and find the cure."

"I'm working on it." He assured her as he sat down beside her.

He set down the wine glasses and began opening the champagne.

"Would you ever take it?" She asked.

He glanced at her, considering her question for a moment, though he didn't want her to know that. Would he consider it?

"Now, why would I want to cure myself of being the most powerful creature on the planet? Hmm?" He countered.

"So there's not one single moment in your whole like that you wanted to be human?" She persisted.

He popped that champagne.

"How about you?" He asked.

He poured them both a drink. She sipped hers as she considered the question.

"Life used to be a lot easier." He continued. "Don't you miss the days of being…" He pulled out his secret weapon and unfolded the old application. "chair of the Mystic Falls Beautification Committee and the director of the policemen's yearly ball."

"Is that my Miss Mystic application?" She asked, launching to her feet and snatching at the paper. "Where did you get that?"

"When I am chosen…" He continued.

She made one last snatch at the paper before settling back with her hands on her hips, allowing him to have his way. Smiling as smile that looked more like a grimace. She was far from amused.

"Now I'm really enjoying your use of when here, it's very confident." He teased.

She attempted to conceal her mortification.

"And above all, I promise to aspire, inspire, and perspire." He continued. "Obviously we found a shortage of words ending in spire."

Her calm broke and she snatched at the paper again. "Very funny, it's hilarious. Just gi…"

He held it out of her reach and she stopped, realizing just how ridiculous her reaction truly was, and she began to laugh at herself. He joined in her amusement. Recognizing how small her former human concerns had been was the first step to her letting go of the life that was and opening her mind to the possibilities of an immortal future, a future without the limits of time and the fear of impending death, a future that could be so much more than this little town that stifled her potential, even if she didn't see it that way yet.

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><p><strong>Please Review!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Tyler's blood was boiling. Klaus could hear the other hybrid's rage in the rapid pounding of his heart, the groaning of his skin against moisture slickened glass as he squeezed his champagne glass to the point of breaking. It was rather amusing. While his desire for a date with Caroline had not for the sake of making the treacherous hybrid suffer, he couldn't deny that it was an add bonus.

The party was dying out as Klaus topped off Caroline's glass, finishing their second bottle of champagne.

"Thanks." She gave him her pressed lipped smile and tilted her head to the side as she looked at him and he couldn't help but wonder exactly how tipsy the young blonde vampire was. She seemed more relaxed, more open to his company, and he had to assume that intoxication had helped.

"I did think about it," he said suddenly, "once."

"What?" Caroline looked at him over the rim of her glass.

"You asked me if I'd ever thought about being human." He clarified. "Once. I was on a trek in the Andes, and a humming bird flew up to me. And it just hovered there, staring at me. And its tiny heart was pattering like a machine gun. And I thought, 'what a thing' you know, to have to work that hard every day just to stay alive. To be constantly on the verge of death. And how satisfying every day must be that it survived. And that was the only time I thought about being human."

Caroline stared at him, listening to every word he said.

He could practically hear Tyler rolling his eyes. He didn't like that the hybrid was listening in, invading on moments that he wished were just between the two of them, but it was the closest to being alone with Caroline he could hope to be for now. He hoped to change that sooner rather than later.

"Was that a line?" Caroline asked. "Is that what you use on all your conquests?"

"Is it working?" He asked.

She blushed and attempted to conceal it by taking another sip of her drink.

"Honestly," he continued, "I've never told that to anyone before."

"So why are you telling me?"

"Why do you think?" Klaus asked. "I already told you I fancy you, Caroline."

She rolled her eyes and downed the last of her champagne, "Maybe I don't believe you."

"You believe me." Klaus smirked. He leaned close to her and tucked her hair behind her ear. His breath warmed her cheek as he whisper, "That's what you're afraid of."

Caroline jumped, startled by his assessment. She looked him in the eye, her own wide. He could see her lowered inhibitions by the openness in her eyes. She looked so fragile, so insecure. He'd been right; she saw his broken parts because she had the same scars.

The reason why she couldn't understand how someone could see her as the pinnacle of perfection was because no one ever had. No one had ever chosen her, not really. Klaus could see that they were all fools; even if she couldn't. Maybe she didn't think anyone would ever choose her, but he intended to prove her wrong. No matter how long it took.

Caroline bit her lip. She tried not to stare at Klaus's mouth as he spoke. She tried, but she failed. He fancied her. He'd done nothing but try to prove it too her since her birthday, with gifts and drawings and showers of attention. He fancied her. And it wasn't because there was someone else that he wanted but couldn't have so he decided to settle for her, no, he fancied her.

She'd felt her inhibitions slipping with every sip of champagne. She knew she should have stopped drinking, shown a little restraint. She should have maintained control. But she couldn't make herself want to stop. She just wanted to feel appreciated. She didn't want to feel rejected. She wanted someone who wanted her. Even if she knew better.

She spent so much time trying to do the right thing, trying to make good decisions. She was so tired of being the good girl. What had it ever gotten her? All she'd ever gotten from anyone was to be their second choice, at best. For once, for one day, she was going to be someone's first choice.

She was going to make the wrong decision, and everyone else could deal just deal with it. She was always dealing with the windfall of their stupid mistakes. It was her turn to be the stupid one. It was how they all saw her anyway. Shallow. Stupid. Expendable. It was how she saw herself. Klaus was the only one who seemed to see anything else.

So, if Elena was allowed to juggle the Salvatore brothers, than she was allow to make poor life decisions too. As Klaus had pointed out about Elena, she was a big girl. So was Caroline.

She sat down her glass and met Klaus's hungry gaze.

"Let's get out of here." She said.

She jumped at the sound of breaking glass.

"Tyler!" Hayley shrieked in surprise.

Klaus could smell the other hybrids blood even though he was several hundred feet away. Caroline looked concerned for a moment, but forced the expression down. She met Klaus's gaze steadily and raised her eyebrow questioningly.

Klaus rose to his feet and smoothed down his suit before offering Caroline his hand. She sat her glass on the stone bench and lightly took his hand, pulling herself to her feet.

"Let's go." She said, pulling him after her.

He was more than willing to allow her control, something he'd come to realize she desperately craved. They walked around the Lockwood manor rather than going by the ex.

"Did you drive?" Caroline asked as they came around to the Lockwood's driveway where a few cars remained of the last couple attendees who hadn't seemed to realize that it was time to leave.

"I did." Klaus confirmed. Considering her heels, Klaus doubted she was very keen on vamp speeding to their destination.

"Good." Caroline said. "Take me home."

"If you would like." Klaus nodded respectfully. He led her to his car, a red Shelby Cobra, one of the many classics in his garage, and opened the passenger door.

"No," Caroline caught the door with her hand and turned to face him. "Take. Me. Home."

Klaus's eyes went wide in surprise. He had assumed she was pulling a stunt to get a reaction out of Tyler. Once she succeeded, he hadn't expected her to actually follow through. But that was what he liked about her. She was the only person in hundreds who had the ability to surprise him. She sank down into the car and he closed the door after her.

Caroline was sobered up enough by the time they reached the Mikaelson Mansion to be second guessing her decision. She balled her shaking hands in her lap to hide the fact that they were shaking. She was worried about where this might lead, but saying something now would mean admitting she'd made a mistake. There was only one thing that Caroline hated more than making a mistake, and that was admitting it.

Klaus stopped the vehicle in the driveway. Caroline got out of the car before he could come around and get the door for her. He started up the front steps and stopped at the door, looking back at Caroline who was still standing beside the car.

"Is there a problem, love?" He asked.

"Nope," Caroline said. She hurried up the stairs. "No problem."

"Good." Klaus opened the door as she joined him and let it swing open. He looked at her expectantly as though waiting for her to make the first move.

Caroline took a deep breath and plastered on her best Miss Mystic smile, before stepping over the threshold.

"So how does this work?" She asked.

"How does what work?" Klaus countered.

"This," she said impatiently, "how does this work?"

He smirked at her. She hoped he couldn't see right through her, see how terrified she was, but she had a feeling that he could.

"How do you think this is going to work?" He asked.

"I think you're probably going to flirt with me, show me some more of your art, offer me a drink, and then sex." She said.

"Ah… Yes, hot hybrid sex." Klaus mused.

Caroline flushed at the memory of the time in the woods when she, thinking that Tyler was Tyler when he was really Tyler possessed by Klaus, totally made out with him after he rescued her from the psycho town council.

That was the only time they had ever kissed. Despite months of verbal foreplay he had never, not once, tried to kiss her. Not that she would have let him. Before today, she would have been much smart about this.

She had never kissed Klaus, not really. She had wondered what it would be like. She'd done the whole bad boy thing before with Damon, which wound up with her being his compelled blood bag play thing. The experience had kind of turned her off the bad boys.

But Klaus. He was worse than any bad boy. He was a villain. The mustache twirling, maniacal laughing villain a good girl should run from. But Caroline wasn't sure that she was a good girl anymore, not really. She tried so hard to control her instincts, but she could feel herself changing, slowly but surely.

The Caroline she was before she turned never would have come here with Klaus. She wouldn't find herself forgetting the terrible things he'd done, and even worse, offering excuses for some of them. She should run the other way, but instead here they were. She wasn't worried about him compelling her. If he was going to do that he would have done it ages ago. No, this was a game to him. He didn't want to win by cheating.

"So?" She pressed, expectantly. She didn't want to let her nerves get the better of her. Maybe it would be better if they did, but she didn't want to back down. She had been bluffing at first, but now she was being stubborn. What did it matter what Tyler thought of her. He was the cheater. They were done. She was single and allowed to make any stupid decision she wanted to. And Klaus was about as stupid as decisions could get.

"Well then, would you like a drink, sweetheart?" Klaus offered with his lips pressed together in an amused half smile.

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	5. Chapter 5

No one would take his call, not Elena, not Bonnie, not even Matt. He knew they were all mad at him for cheating on Caroline, but he had every right to be mad at them too. Because of them, Chris was dead. And because of the stupid deal Caroline made to save Elena, she was now in Klaus's grasp.

The Original must have compelled her. That was the only explanation that made sense. After everything Klaus had done to all of them, to him, there was no way Caroline would willingly go home with him. She just wouldn't.

She couldn't.

It didn't matter that their relationship was on the rocks. Tyler loved her, sure he'd made a mistake with Hayley, but it was justifiable, he'd been in the midst of breaking the sire bond, changing about a hundred times, breaking every bone in his body, things had been pretty intense. It had been a mistake, one that Caroline would forgive him for eventually. He would get her back. They would be in love again.

So long as she didn't get herself killed in the meantime.

"Why is no one answering their phone?" Tyler growled, chucking his cellphone across the room."

"Whoa!" Hayley said. "Chill, Ty."

"Don't tell me to chill." He snapped. "Klaus has Caroline."

"Yeah," Hayley said, "because she went with him."

Tyler growled. He slammed Hayley against the wall. He could feel his teeth extending, his eyes changing. Hayley's eyes were wide with fear, but then she relaxed and smiled.

"Ty, let it go." She said. "You're here with me. Be with me."

She stroked his face.

"But Caroline…" His rage extinguished as quickly as it was kindled. The fight bled out of him. He couldn't help it, not when he imagined her. His Caroline. Her hair, her eyes, her dazzling smile. The way she loved him with her whole self. Caroline Forbes, the girl he never saw coming until he was already half in love with her.

"Isn't your concern anymore." Hayley reached down and started work on his belt. "I am."

Tyler grabbed her hand. "Stop it, Hayley."

"She dumped you, Ty." Hayley said sharply.

Tyler pushed her away, "Get out."

"Ty…"

"Get out before I make you."

Caroline hesitantly accepted the glass of champagne from Klaus. She was starting to think he might have been on to something about it being their thing. Now that she'd allowed him to take her home, she didn't really think that she could deny that they did, indeed, have a thing.

What would Matt say? The thought paralyzed her momentarily. Elena would judge her, but then again, there was nothing she could do that Elena hadn't done worse. Everyone treated Elena like she was perfect, but she just as flawed as Caroline was. Bonnie would judge her no matter what she did. Bonnie still loved her, but there was a part Bonnie that couldn't forgive her for becoming a vampire, even though it wasn't her fault. But Matt… Her friend, her former love, the one person who understood she wasn't perfect and didn't judge her for it. He was good and sweet and normal in this crazy world. Would he hate her for this?

No. She didn't think he would.

"Make yourself comfortable." Klaus said.

Comfortable was just about the furthest thing from what she was currently feeling. She took a sip, hoping the alcohol would replenish the nerves she was lacking. She didn't know the protocol for when one went home with a thousand year old vampire.

It wasn't like he was an Edward Cullen either. No, Klaus was no thousand year old virgin. He knew exactly what he was doing. His every attempt to seduce her had been carefully calculated from the start. He knew what he wanted and he knew precisely how to go about getting it. How was she supposed to fight against someone like that?

Not that Caroline was inexperienced either, but she didn't think eighteen years of life experience had properly prepared her for this situation.

"You can take a seat, Caroline."

Klaus sank into a leather chair beside the cold fireplace, perfectly angled to observe her every action. His lips were pressed together, and Caroline had the impression he was refraining from laughing at her. It made her feel exposed, like he saw straight through her. She didn't like it.

"I'm good." She said. She drew closer to the hearth and, by doing so, closer to Klaus.

"Preparing to run?"

"No." She snapped.

He smirked.

Riled, she kicked off her heels and gave him a pointed look, "Happy?"

"Ecstatic." He replied.

The tile floor was cold beneath her feet, sending a chill up her legs and through her body. It distracted her from her pounding heart. She tried not to think about the fact that Klaus could hear her every physical reaction, he could hear the way he caused her heart to gallop off at a frantic pace. She could say that it was because he frightened her, but they would both know that was a lie. Caroline Forbes, the girl who brazenly acted as bait for the most dangerous man in the world, playing on his affections for her, was not so easily frightened.

If anything, she was frightened of herself, terrified of the person she was becoming, a person who would go home with Klaus… A person who wanted to.

"We're not so different, you and I." Klaus mused.

"I'm not like you." Caroline said.

"Aren't you?"

"No."

"Tell me, sweetheart," Klaus said, "did you come here expressly for the purpose of hurting Tyler?"

"So what if I did?" Caroline countered. She tried to hide the fact that his question caught her off guard.

"You want those who have wronged you to suffer." He observed, a smile twisted the corner of his lips, "Secretly."

Caroline gaped at the Hybrid. She liked to think she was above something like that. But didn't she secretly long to take a peeler to Damon's face for the horrible things he'd done to her? Didn't she come here because she wanted Tyler to feel a glimmer of the pain he'd caused her? Maybe secretly she was just as vindictive as Klaus, except he just wasn't afraid to be the bad guy. Maybe the only reason she wasn't exactly like Klaus was because she worked so hard not to be. If she just let go, if she let herself go, maybe she was a monster too.

"Keep your secrets." Klaus said. "I rather enjoy the mystery."

A silence fell between them. Caroline sipped her drink.

"Were you aware that Tyler and his female companion have been working to break the sire bond of the remaining Hybrids?" Klaus asked suddenly.

Caroline inhaled sharply. She had known, in fact she'd been involved before she learned the truth about Tyler and Hayley. She'd been the distraction, keeping Klaus preoccupied so that he wouldn't see what was happening right under his nose. How foolish had they been to think they could fool someone like Klaus? And now what? Was he going to hurt Tyler? Caroline might be angry with him, but she didn't want that. She'd never wanted that.

"I was." She admitted.

Klaus didn't look angry or even surprised. He simply nodded. "Thank you for your honesty."

"Are you going to hurt them?" She asked.

"I considered it."

"And?"

"I'd rather enjoy your company." He said.

This stumped Caroline. She knew he had a thing for her, but she didn't think she mattered enough to him to sway him from whatever so-called justice he felt the urge to dole out. He made it quite clear that his feelings for her wouldn't stop him from hurting her when she double crossed him to help free Elena. So why this? Why would he choose to ignore her part in the hybrids' betrayal? Why would he let them off the hook? Was it for her sake? He left her with a million questions that she didn't know how to even start to ask.

"Why?"

"I sacrificed one of my precious hybrids just to be able to spend time with you." He smirked. "Is it really so surprising that I would hesitate to do something that would jeopardize our thing?"

"We don't have a thing." Caroline said. It was an instinctive reaction. After spending so long actively trying to dislike the man, it was difficult to adjust as things shifted between them. But judging by his amused smirk, he didn't believe her protest any more than he had when she had actually meant it. She cleared her throat, nervously, "So you'll leave him alone, for me?"

Klaus smirked. "Revenge doesn't always require violence."

"So you want to use me to get back at Tyler?" Caroline asked.

"Does it matter?" Klaus asked. He raised an eyebrow considering her carefully, "Aren't you here for the same purpose?"

"I don't know," Caroline rolled her lip between her teeth, "maybe."

"Well, if that's all you came for, then you've already accomplished your purpose." Klaus stood up. "There's no reason for you to remain here. You can show yourself out, if you'd like."

Caroline recoiled, confused by the sudden shift.

"Do you want me to leave?" She asked.

Klaus met her gaze; there was something desperate, honest about his expression that sent a shiver down her spine. "I want you to want to stay, Caroline."

She felt a thrill as he said her name. It was like he was the only person who'd ever said it right. Caroline glanced at the door. This was it, this was her out. He was giving her a way out; she just had to take it. She could pick up her heels and what was left of her dignity and go.

Caroline swirled her drink around in her glass. She had a feeling that this was one of the big moments, one of the moments that you looked back on and went 'yup, that's where my life changed'. She had a choice. She could stay the same, she could go home and pretend to be the same Miss Mystic Falls she'd been before she died, a small town girl destined for an equally small life. Or she could change, into what she wasn't sure, but she was sure that if she changed there would be no going back.

She sat her glass down on the mantle. A flicker of disappointment fleeted across Klaus's face. He thought she was going to take the out he'd laid before her, but he was wrong.

She closed the distance between them and kissed him hard.

"Caroline is where?" Stefan gaped at Tyler. "Willingly?"

He had been just about to leave Elena's house when the knock came from the door. Now he, Matt, and Jeremy stared at Caroline's ex, dumbfounded.

"I think Klaus must have compelled her." Tyler said.

Stefan saw the flicker of doubt in Tyler's eyes. Stefan couldn't help but wonder if the doubt was founded. Klaus had pursued Caroline relentlessly since her birthday, showering her with attention and gifts. He was obsessed, but if he was going to compel her, Stefan thought he probably would have done so already. No, he didn't compel her. He didn't have to. Caroline insisted that she didn't like the Original, but she wouldn't be the first girl to go for the wrong guy.

There had been a time when he would have said that Elena never would have fallen for Damon, but he'd been wrong. He was starting to think that saying never was just a good way to get proven wrong.

He felt a surge of guilt, because if Caroline was with Klaus, then it was his fault. He'd known she was going through a lot in the wake of Tyler's betrayal, but he didn't even give it a second thought as he thrust her once again in Klaus's path to play bait. He should have known better. Klaus was only going to play the game by their rules for so long. It had only been a matter of time before the Original Hybrid changed the rules so the game would play in his favor.

Stefan knew how far Klaus would go to get what he wanted. He'd daggered his own sister to prevent her from getting in the way of his getting his hands on the cure. And then it hit him. The cure.

He had a way in.

He could save Caroline. Even if it was from herself.

Every time Klaus presumed to know what the young blonde vampire was going to do, she did the exact opposite. She was a conundrum. He enjoyed that about her. Not only was she beautiful, brave, and intelligent, she was unlike any other woman he had known through the centuries.

She shared some superficial similarities with Rebekah, both beautiful, both insecure and so incredibly damaged by the men who played with their affections. Perhaps that had been what he had found so intriguing about her at first. But she was so different from what he initially thought. He thought she was the weak link, easily corruptible, selfish. But he was wrong.

She was far from selfish. She was incredibly loyal, offering far more loyalty to the doppelgänger and her other friends than was warranted. She was the backbone of their entire group. She was the strong one. She was strong and constant so that the other could falter.

If they could see her now, their stalwart unwavering friend, endlessly put upon, never disappointing, now standing at a precipice ready to free fall. What would they think of her?

They would be so disappointed, though every one of them had done far worse, they all expected better from her. Because she was better. She was the best of them. She was too good for them, for any of them. And they all took her for granted.

He looped one hand loosely around her waist and let her set the pace of their kiss. He was desperate to devour her, but he didn't want to show that weakness, so when she pulled away, he let her go.

"So, what now?" She challenged, staring him down with her lively blue eyes.

"You tell me." He countered.

He heard the tempo of her heart speed up a notch, but she kept her expression smooth.

"Now," she said, "you're going to show me to your bedroom."

Caroline didn't know if this was what she wanted, but she did know she didn't want to leave. She'd always had a tendency to fall into bed with a guy and figure out the logistics later. So what that Tyler would never talk to her again? So what that her friends would never understand? She didn't understand herself, so she couldn't expect them to.

There was something about Klaus that drew her in. She didn't trust him, wasn't even sure if she liked him, but she wanted him. She'd wanted him from the moment he came into her bedroom and told her of all the splendors of the world that waited for her just beyond Mystic Falls. She'd wanted him because he seemed to believe she was made for so much more than 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. She wanted him because nobody else looked at her the way he did, and she doubted anyone ever would again. She wanted to be wanted that desperately, just once.

No one else had ever seemed to think she counted for much of anything, but he, well he seemed to think she counted for everything.

Klaus offered her his hand. She took it, trying to ignore the thrill his slightest touch sent through her. She had always liked to be in control. She had convinced herself that while they bantered and battled for control in whatever this was between them that she was the one who always came out on top. But now, as he guided her through the enormous house, she had the sinking realization that he was the cat and she was the mouse and she had fallen right into his trap.

He was smart, too smart. It was like playing chess against a computer. It was like he knew her every move and decision before she even made it. How could she compete against that? How could she possibly maintain control?

They made their way up stairs and he guided her to his unfamiliar bedroom. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't this, a dark room with a large bed, a desk in the corner, and a table beside the fireplace. It looked very much like his study, just with a bed thrown in. Maybe she was expecting a coffin. She really wasn't sure, because now that she was here, it made perfect sense. It was very Klaus.

She pulled her hand from his and meandered to his desk. She picked up a sketchbook.

She looked back at him. "May I?"

He nodded.

She flipped through the pages slowly. Animals. Building. And strange and exotic things that she'd never dreamed of seeing before he offered to show her the world.

Then the pictures shifted, to her. It would have been creepy if she wasn't already aware that he liked to draw her. Besides, it was hard to see such beautiful artwork as creepy.

One sketch was of her in her twenties flapper get up, arms crossed, looking annoyed. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Why do you draw me?" She asked.

"Because beauty shouldn't be taken for granted." He said.

She closed the sketchbook and returned it to his desk.

"Well, I guess it's time." She walked over to his bed and sat down on it.

"Time for what?" He asked, coming over and sitting beside her.

For someone who claimed to want her he made very few attempts to touch her, and when he did it was always innocent, like a hand on her waist when they danced. He never took more than she gave. She wasn't used to it. She was used to hard and fast, boys that took what they wanted and gave little back.

"It, time for it." She said.

He laughed, "We're not going to have sex, love."

She furrowed her brow in confusion. "Of course we are. I came here to do it, and we're going to do it."

"No," he said, "we're not."

He rested his hand on her knee to calm her.

"But you said you fancied me." She whispered, trying not to feel rejected.

"And you said you were too smart to be seduced by me." He whispered back with a conspiratorial smirk.

"You're not seducing me." She said.

"I know, that's the problem." He leaned in and caught her lips in chaste kiss. "I quite look forward to proving you wrong. A time when you choose to be with me, not because you're hurt or because you want to make someone jealous. When you want me as desperately as I want you. But I know that's more than you can give right now." He ran the back of his hand along her cheek, "So I'll wait."

"Why?"

"We have forever, darling." He smirked. "You may not choose me now. You may not choose me for a hundred years. But I have no doubt that, eventually, you will choose me. And I'm willing to wait. However long it takes."

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><p><strong>Longest chapter yet! Thank you to everyone who is reading, your support is amazing!<strong>

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	6. Chapter 6

She stayed. Klaus wasn't expecting that. He expected that she would retreat into her carefully constructed walls, the ones she used to conceal exactly how fragile she really was, the ones she used to hide the fact that she wasn't perfect. Part of him had been afraid to deny her, afraid that it would cause her to run, that she would take it as a rejection. He didn't expect her to be mature enough to take it as was it truly was, a compliment. She was irresistible, but he was willing to resist, so that one day he could give her what she needed rather than taking what he wanted.

They lay on his bed, facing on another, close, but not touching. He longed for a time when he could casually trail his hand up and down her arm, caress her beautiful face without the fear of her recoiling from his touch, but they were not there yet.

She stayed, because she was so incredibly lonely. He could see it now. Loneliness had a way of aging a soul. The world might look at her and see an eighteen year old girl, but she was so much more. She didn't want to go home, when her mother would be out working until some ungodly hour. She couldn't call her friends, because either they wouldn't answer or wouldn't come to relieve her loneliness. So she stayed with the one person who offered her the companionship she craved.

She started talking about her father, and from the way tears gathered in her eyes, he could see how deeply his loss wounded her.

"He chose to die rather than become like me." She confessed. She didn't look at him, her gaze fixated on her own hand that rolled the comforter between her fingertips.

"No," Klaus whispered, "he chose to die rather than become a vampire."

"I'm a vampire."

"You're an angel."

A delicate blush darkened her pale cheeks. Her watery blue gaze flicked to meet his eyes. She looked startled, like a wild animal confronted by a hunter.

"You're so horrible to everyone else." She said. "Why are you nice to me?"

"Even devils crave the light." He shrugged.

"You're not a devil." She fluffed her pillow and curled into a tighter ball. He could tell she was cold, but she wouldn't admit it.

She wouldn't be comfortable with the level of intimacy a tender touch or his arms around her would indicate, not with a monster like him, not yet. But he would change her mind. He wondered if she even recognized the intimacy of this moment between them, alone and honest. He wondered if she was old enough to know that intimacy was so much more than sex. If she didn't know yet, he looked forward to teaching her.

"Aren't I, though?" He sat up and pulled off his jacket, laying it over her like a blanket.

She pulled it close, stealing the lasting warmth it offered. She might have thought she could go to bed with him, but he knew better. She wasn't ready for that. And even if she'd gone through with it she would have wound up hating herself for it. He wouldn't have that. She deserved better. Though he might enjoy watching others bend and break, that was not what he wanted for her.

"No, you're not." She whispered.

"Is that so?" Klaus loosened his tie and threw it off the bed before relaxing back down.

"Devils are irredeemable." She said.

"You think you can save me?" Klaus smirked, amused by the audacity of the thought.

"No, but I think you could save yourself," she said, "if you wanted to."

He was startled by her words. He turned to look at her, to discover what answers her eyes could offer. Never before had he met someone would could so unsteady him with mere words. She was so intuitive, so much deeper and more intelligent than anyone gave her credit for.

"And why would I want to do that?" He asked.

"Why don't you compel the hybrids to be loyal?" She countered.

"The same reason I don't compel your affections." He said.

"And why is that?" She pressed.

"It would rather take the fun out of things, don't you think?" He shrugged, rolling onto his back and looking up at the dark ceiling, studying it intently, instead of studying her as he would like to.

"That's not why." Caroline said.

"Then why do you think?" He asked. He wanted to know her thoughts, wanted to understand how she saw him.

"Because then it wouldn't be real." She said. "You dagger your siblings when they let you down, because you can't bear to lose them, for them to really walk away from you. You won't force the loyalty of the hybrids, because then it wouldn't be loyalty. And you won't compel me, because then it wouldn't be real. And you want something that's real." She paused, staying silent until he turned and looked at her, " I think you care, Klaus, and if you care that means you can't be all bad."

"That's high praise considering." Klaus mused.

"Considering you killed my best friend's aunt, broke my boyfriend's neck, and threatened everyone I know and love at least twice?" Caroline asked, she tried to look annoyed, but the hint of a smile slipped through.

"Ah, yes." Klaus smiled back. "Considering that. Hello Stefan."

"Klaus." Stefan said.

Stefan stared at the scene before him. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't this. Both Klaus and Caroline were fully dressed and just talking. Caroline didn't seem in distress. In fact she seemed perfectly at ease, until she realized they were being observed and then she sat up and hurriedly pushed Klaus's jacket off of her.

"Stefan." She said.

Klaus had obviously been aware of Stefan's presence for some time, Caroline, on the other hand, was caught entirely unaware. Stefan saw a pained look cross the Original's face at Caroline's reaction. Stefan didn't know what he'd expected. Wasn't it enough that she was willingly in the same room as him? He couldn't really expect that she would like him, not after everything he had done. He wasn't a fool.

But love had a way of make even the smartest people into fools. Stefan knew that well enough. How much longer had he clung to Elena than he should have? Even as it became steadily clearer that he was no longer the one she loved.

He couldn't fault Klaus for hoping. Caroline was incredible, she was so much more than he'd originally thought. When he met her, he saw a vapid cheerleader who would throw herself at anything male and attractive. He shot her down brutally back then. Now he could see that she was so much more than he had thought, and she was just beginning to become all that she could be.

He didn't have feelings for her, not like that, but objectively, as a friend, he could see why Klaus would be drawn to the young vampire. She was kind, generous, forgiving. She was everything the Original was not.

"What brings you over so late, friend?" Klaus asked.

The Original's smirk made it clear that he already knew perfectly well why Stefan had come. And the way as he stood he situated himself between Stefan and Caroline made it perfectly clear that, while Caroline might not be a prisoner, Stefan didn't think she was exactly free to leave, and he definitely wasn't allowed to go anywhere near her. If Caroline was going to leave, it would not be with him.

"Jeremy." Stefan said.

"Is he okay?" Caroline asked, an edge of panic crept into her voice as she scrambled across the bed.

"He's fine." Stefan said. "Matt's keeping an eye on him. But he tried to kill Elena."

Caroline's mouth gaped open with horror.

"He triggered the hunter's instincts." Klaus said. "What did you expect?"

"Isn't there something we can do about it?" Stefan asked.

"Get the cure." Klaus said. "Perhaps when he's completed his purpose the urges will subside. At the very least, the doppelgänger will no longer be a vampire, and therefore, safe."

"From Jeremy." Caroline muttered, giving Klaus a pointed look that seemed to amuse the Original.

"So we need to find the cure." Stefan said.

"We don't need to do anything." Klaus smirked. "You need to find the cure. I couldn't care less."

"But you want Elena's blood." Caroline said. She stepped in front of Klaus to see if he was kidding. He wasn't.

Stefan considered, for a split second, grabbing Caroline and speeding off, but given the look Klaus gave him when their gaze met for a moment, doing so would likely be the last thing he ever did. The Hybrid would rip his heart out before they reached the door.

"Her blood became utterly worthless to me the moment your boyfriend proved how easily the sire bond can be broken." Klaus said.

"Ex-boyfriend." Caroline corrected.

Klaus seemed to appreciate the correction, considering the way his lips pressed into a smile.

"Ex-boyfriend." He agreed. "Besides, I'm rather beginning to appreciate the idea of being one of a kind."

"You said you wouldn't kill them." Caroline whispered, taking a step back.

"No, I said I'd rather spend time with you." Klaus said. "I never said I couldn't do both."

"You can't." Caroline said. "Because if you hurt them, I'll never forgive you."

"Never is a very long time, sweetheart."

Caroline glanced back at Stefan. She looked scared, but he recognized something else about her expression. It was the look she had when she steeled herself to face Klaus, to put herself in jeopardy for the sake of her friends. It was her martyr look.

"Caroline." Stefan warned.

"Fine." Caroline said. "If you promise not to hurt the hybrids, if you spare my friends and my mom, if you help us get the cure." She hesitated. "If you promise, then I promise never to leave you."

"Deal." The look in Klaus's eye unnerved Stefan. "But once your precious Elena takes the cure, the cure is mine. I will not allow it fall into the hands of my enemies." He paused, looking at Stefan instead of Caroline, a satisfied smirk twisting his lips. "Because I intend to ensure that never remains a very long time."

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	7. Chapter 7

"What did I just do?" Caroline asked her reflection. Water dripped from the tip of her nose. She thought splashing water on her face would ease the burning sensation that plagued her, it didn't. Her heart fluttered in her chest at a hyperactive pace.

She promised Klaus she would stay with him forever. Forever. What was she thinking? She knew exactly what she'd been thinking. She'd been thinking that he was going to find a way to win her over eventually. He would find a way to make her choose him, either willingly or with manipulation, possibly both. She was thinking that it was better now, under her own terms, then later. Now she was thinking about exactly how stupid that decision had been.

A delicate rap came from the bathroom door.

"Caroline?" Klaus called through the door.

Klaus. Forever. Klaus, the Original Hybrid who killed without a thought. She wondered if he intended to kill her too, simply in a different way. Did he plan to make her into one of his broken toys, manipulated until she was no longer the girl she had been, until all traces of Caroline Forbes was gone and she truly was the monster her father had feared she'd become? Was that the forever she had to look forward to?

"Just a minute," she said, "I just need a…"

The door opened.

She caught Klaus's gaze in the mirror and glared at him.

"Did I say you could come in?" She snapped.

He smirked.

Oh, how she hated that smirk. She hated how it made it painfully clear that he could see straight through her.

"Stefan is leaving." He announced.

"So?"

"He's going to take you home."

"You're letting me go home?" She turned around to face him.

"Why wouldn't I let you go home. It's the place you live," Klaus said slowly, "honestly, love, how clingy do you think I am?"

Stefan didn't speak until they were safely in his car and driving away from the Mikaelson Mansion. He wasn't sure how good the hybrid's hearing actually was, so he wasn't going to take any risks. He just counted himself lucky that, while Klaus didn't trust him, he agreed to surrender his grip on Caroline for the time being.

Caroline sat with her high heels in her lap, drumming her fingertips against the shoes. She was avoiding looking at him, he could feel it.

"Caroline…" Stefan started, not knowing what to say.

"Don't Stefan." She cut him off. "I know what you're going to say. It was stupid. I shouldn't have made a promise like that. I know all that already. I just don't want to hear how disappointed you are in me. I can't take it right now, okay?"

"What you did was incredibly brave, Caroline." Stefan cut off his insecure friend. "You sacrifice so much for your friends without so much as a second thought. I could never be disappointed in you for that. I just wish there was something I could do to get you out of this."

She hung her head, her fair curls fell forward like a curtain, blocking her face from his view. He thought she might have been crying, but he knew she wouldn't want him to know. Caroline didn't like to cry in front of people, she felt like it meant that she was losing control, and she loved to have control. The only times he knew of her crying were when she was tortured, when Klaus broke Tyler's neck, and when her father had died.

"Why are you so nice to me?" She asked.

"Because you're a good person, Caroline." Stefan said. "The very best, actually."

"I'm really not."

"Thanks for the ride, Stefan," Caroline said as she pressed the passenger door shut.

"You sure you're okay to be alone?" Stefan asked.

Caroline glanced back at her house. It looked dark, but she could hear the television going inside.

"I'll be fine." She said, "Besides, I think my mom's home."

Stefan pressed his lips together and nodded, "All right then."

"Good night." Caroline took a step back and waved as Stefan drove away. She felt bad sending Stefan away, she had a feeling that part of the reason he wanted to keep her company was just an excuse to not be alone. He probably could use a friend given the fact that he and Elena were on the outs.

Caroline wanted to be a sympathetic, in fact she had a long and nearly flawless track record of being the person people could turn to with their troubles. At least, since she became a vampire. Well, it wasn't really a vampire thing; it was a growing up thing. She had made efforts to be more understanding since Bonnie called her out on not listening about the whole witch thing, back before she knew about any of the more interesting aspects of Mystic Falls.

But sometimes being a good friend had to take a back seat. She wanted to care about Stefan's problems, but she didn't. She couldn't bring herself to care about anything other than the events of the evening. She didn't know what troubled her more, the fact that she'd made a deal with Klaus or the fact that she'd wanted to.

In between all the terrible things the Original Hybrid did, there were moments, glimmers of something else. All Caroline's life, people had only loved her when it was easy. No one had ever made her feel like she was a prize to be won. If anything she was the consolation prize. She was what people got when nothing better came along. Matt loved her because he couldn't have Elena. Tyler loved her until he found Hayley. But Klaus didn't see anyone else. Maybe he wasn't exactly the ideal guy, given his track record, but he fancied her and he had never wavered on that, not even once.

"Caroline?"

Caroline turned slowly, she knew his voice, but she didn't want to see his face.

"What are you doing here, Tyler?" She grimaced at the sight of him, hands tucked in his pockets. He looked agitated. Maybe Hayley dumped his ass. It would have served him right.

"I came to see you." He said.

"What a coincidence," she faked a smile, "Because you're the last person I want to see right now."

She brushed pass him. He caught her arm, she tried to pull away but he tightened his grip.

"Let go of me, Tyler." She said.

"Did you sleep with him?" His voice cracked.

"What are you talking about?" She pulled against him again.

"Don't play games with me, Care." Tyler slammed her against a tree, hard. "I saw you leave together. Did you sleep with him?"

"It's none of your business." Caroline snapped, struggling against his tightening grip. "We're broken up, remember? Besides, you slept with Hayley."

"That's not the same."

"Isn't it?" Caroline gritted her teeth. She could feel the veins on her face pressing against her skin.

"It's not the same and you know it." Tyler protested.

"Why not?"

"He's a monster."

"We're all monsters."

"He's evil, Care." Tyler said. His voice went soft the way he used to whisper to her as his lips brushed against her skin.

She shivered at the memory. Then the betrayal came rushing back and a rage boiled up in her and she shoved him away.

"He may be evil, but at least he's not a lying, cheating asshole." Caroline spat the words out like they tasted bad. She stormed away from Tyler, toward her house.

"Don't walk away from me." Tyler yelled, chasing after her.

"Don't tell me what to do." She hollered over her shoulder.

He caught her wrist and yanked her around.

"We're not done." Tyler said.

"Oh yes, we are." Caroline said. Rage burned hot in her face and she said the one thing she could think of to really hurt him. "That's why I slept with Klaus."

Honestly, Klaus rather liked the idea of forcing Caroline to stay at the Mikaelson Manor forever. However, he had several things he wanted to take care of, and he didn't think she would approve. Since he had noticed that it was easier to gain her forgiveness than her permission, he thought it was better to allow Stefan to take her elsewhere for the time being.

"Kol," Klaus nodded to his brother as he stepped into the office of Atticus Shane.

The Professor and the Bennet witch sat, tied to their chairs and gagged.

"You asked the strangest favors, brother." Kol mused, studying his hostages. "Might I ask why you wanted them?"

Klaus circled the two tied up. He knew he couldn't harm Bonnie if he wanted his deal with Caroline to stay in place. But he also had no intention of allowing her to run off crying wolf.

"According to the Salvatore Brothers, the professor here is rather knowledgeable about certain topics I have an invested interest in."

"Illuminating." Kol smirked.

"Apparently he knows a great deal about the five."

"I thought the five were dead." Kol said.

"Ah, yes." Klaus leaned close to the professor, studying the man's face. He was so human and fragile. It would be quite easy to snap his neck, enjoyable even, but that wouldn't get him the information he needed. "Turns out they are more resilient than I thought."

"What does this matter to you?"

"I thought that was obvious," Klaus said. "I want the cure."

"I never knew you wanted to be mortal." Kol teased.

"I have no interest in being cured," Klaus said, "but I also have no interest in standing idly by while someone else gets a hold of a weapon they can use against me."

"Ever the strategist, brother." Kol hopped off the desk and began inspecting the bookshelves, knocking books and artifacts off as he went.

Shane wriggled against his bindings, whining into his gag.

"Kol." Klaus reprimanded. "Give it a rest."

Kol raised his hands in surrender, but Klaus knew it was only a matter of time before he started up again. The younger Mikaelson brother was incapable of holding his peace for longer than a few minutes at a time.

Klaus untied the gag and pulled it from Shane's mouth. He opted to leave the Bennet witch gagged, he found her significantly less annoying without her pious "Vampires are bad" routine.

"Do you know who I am?" Klaus asked the professor.

"Klaus Mikaelson. One of the original vampires." Shane said reluctantly.

"Ah, my reputation precedes me." Klaus smirked. "Good. So you know, if you value your life, you will tell me everything I want to know as quickly as possible."

Shane pressed his lips into a thin line. His eyes darted between the two brothers as though trying to determine exactly how serious to take their threats.

The sound of the door knob turning made them all freeze. Klaus clamped his hand over the professor's mouth before he could speak. The door swung open.

"So, problem." A young woman stepped inside, she did not even glance their direction as she closed the door behind her. "I pushed too hard and I think Tyler might have broken up with me."

Klaus's smirk widened, because he recognized the girl almost immediately. "Hello Hayley."

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><p><strong>Sorry for the wait!<strong>

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	8. Chapter 8

Tyler snarled and lunged at her. Caroline squealed and closed her eyes, suddenly terrified of how he might retaliate. Sure, if he bit her, Klaus could heal her, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn't get him made enough to rip her head off. And that Klaus couldn't heal.

To her surprise, pain didn't come, instead she felt his lips on hers, his hands tangling in her hair. She moaned against his mouth and of their own accord her hands grabbed at his shirt and she was kissing him back.

And it felt good.

Until Hayley popped into her head. Hayley and Tyler, their naked bodies entwined. She pushed him away in disgust.

"What the hell are you doing?" She snapped, wiping her mouth and spiting on the ground.

"Showing you that it's not true." Tyler said. "You didn't sleep with Klaus. I don't believe you."

"Well, that's because I'm lying!" Caroline huffed and crossed her arms. "But that doesn't change the fact that you forfeited the right to kiss me or object to who I sleep with the minute you slept with that were-skank."

"You don't understand, Care." Tyler protested. He took a step toward her, his voice and actions so much gentler now. He could be so gentle and good to her, and her heart ached for that version of him. But he was also rash and inconsiderate. He never put her first, not once. The one time he'd put her first was when he rescued her from the town counsel, but it turned out not to even be him. Once again it was Klaus. Klaus saved her when Tyler bit her accidentally, he rescued her from Alaric, and he came for her when the town counsel abducted her. Klaus might have a terrible track record in other areas, but he had a tendency to always come through for her when she needed him.

But Tyler… When he'd found his were-buddies torturing her, even after she'd helped him through his transformation, he didn't do a single thing to help her. And then, after she'd been like a really good girlfriend, he went and slept with Hayley.

"I don't understand?" Caroline asked sharply, "Please explain to me what exactly I don't understand? Did you not cheat on me? Did you not lie to me?"

He grabbed her hand, "I love you."

She yanked her hand away from him, "You don't get to say that to me. Not anymore."

"Please, Care." He whispered. "I was out there trying to break the sire bond so that I could come back to you. You can't imagine what it's like changing a hundred times in a row. Hayley was the only reason I got through it."

"So that's your excuse? You break your sire bond to Klaus and what? Found yourself sired to Hayley, so obviously you had to sleep with her?"

"No," he said, "Care, I just meant that it was a mistake…"

"Sired to Hayley." Caroline repeated. She wasn't quite sure what she was thinking, but it felt as though something was clicking into place. Sire bond. Devotion. Blue dress. Red dress. "Oh my god."

Elena was sired to Damon.

"I have to go." Caroline said and ran away at vamp speed.

Klaus fished his buzzing phone out of his pocket, he was startled to see Caroline's Forbes name on the caller ID. Startled, he couldn't help but smile a bit at the fact that she was calling him. He'd sent her away and she was reaching out to him.

He glanced at his brother, who was expertly extracting information from the teacher and the wolf girl. Kol really was a master at that sort of thing. Klaus preferred the chase, which was why he allowed Katerina to elude him for five hundred years. It was more satisfying to know that she was forever looking over her shoulder, waiting for death.

But Kol, Kol was a master of pain. He knew how to torment, how to drive a person mad. Often it proved a little too theatrical for Klaus's taste, but no one was better at getting answers.

"I assume you can handle this?" Klaus asked his brother. Kol just smiled. Klaus answered his phone, "Caroline Forbes, to what do I owe this exquisite pleasure?"

The professor let out a blood curdling scream.

"Do I want to know what's going on there, where ever you are?" Caroline asked.

"Probably not." Klaus replied.

"Whatever." He heard her sigh heavily. He could only imagine the exasperation written on her beautiful face.

"What do you need, sweetheart?" Klaus pressed. "You see, I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"Elena." Caroline said. "What you were hinting at earlier. You think she's sired to Damon, don't you."

Clever girl. Klaus's lips curled in delight. Not only was she like a walking, breathing work of art, but in her beautiful head was such a quick brain. Klaus couldn't imagine what the rest of those teenage morons would do without her. He looked forward to making them find out.

"If you're asking me, then surely you've already drawn your own conclusion." Klaus said. "Admit it, you just wanted an excuse to hear my voice." He heard her wince. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just a bad idea to vamp speed barefoot through the woods." She said. "Splinters. " She paused. "But I'm right, though, right? Elena is sired to Damon. I know it's like one in a million, but I'm right."

"That would be my guess." Klaus confirmed. "Good night, Caroline."

He ended the call and turned back to the hostages.

"So where were we?"

Caroline skidded to a stop on the gravel driveway in front of the Salvatore boarding house. The house looked dark despite the light from several of the windows. Stefan's classic, whatever type of care it was (Caroline really didn't care), was parked in front of the house. Caroline walked past the car but stopped short when she saw Stefan slumped on the ground at the front door his head hung dejectedly.

"Stefan?" She said. He looked up at her. "Stefan, what's wrong?"

"Listen." He said.

She furrowed her brow in confusion, but then she focused her hearing and her eyes widened in shock.

"They're…"

"Don't say it." Stefan begged.

Caroline bit her lip. She wanted to blurt out that Elena was sired. That it wasn't her fault she was acting this way. But she couldn't form the words. Instead, she walked to the door and slid down to the ground beside her friend. She took his hand and squeezed it.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

He nodded.

She rested her head on his shoulder and he rubbed circles on her hand with his thumb.

"You're not wearing shoes." Stefan noticed.

"Yeah, I ran here." She said. "Didn't figure my high heels would survive the trip, and they're really cute, so sacrifices had to be made."

"You're wonderful, Caroline." Stefan breathed into her hair.

Caroline smiled against his suit coat. "So are you."

"Wait." Stefan leaned away from her, forcing her to lift her head off his shoulder. "Why did you run here?"

Caroline stared at him, wide-eyed, trying to formulate her thoughts. "You're not going to like it."

"Caroline?"

"So you dropped me off and Tyler was waiting for me." Caroline said. Stefan paled, concerned. "We got in a fight, but something he said reminded me of something Klaus said earlier about the way Elena's been acting."

"And?" Stefan prompted.

"And, I think she's sired," Caroline said, slowly, "to Damon."

"Silas?" Kol recoiled at the name. "The cure is buried with Silas?"

"Yes," Shane said, wearily, slumping against the duct tape that lashed him to the chair.

"Then I say to hell with the cure." Kol said, backing away from the Professor. He turned to his brother. "If we know what's good for us, we'll leave it buried."

"It may have slipped your notice, but I'm not the only one looking for the cure." Klaus said.

"Then we kill everyone who knows anything and wash our hands of the whole matter." Kol said, picking up an ancient looking weapon from a shelf and moving toward the professor.

Klaus frowned and grabbed his brother's arm, "Hold on for a moment."

"You're rushing head long into danger, Nick." Kol said, sounding desperate and panicked. "Just because you're the resident big bad, doesn't mean there isn't something far worse out there."

"What are you so concerned about, little brother?" Klaus said, glancing at the bound professor, his curiosity peaked.

Kol sighed and took a deep breath.

"A few hundred years ago I ran across a group that worshiped Silas." Kol said. "They believed that he would rise again and when he did he would trigger the end of all time. If you're so worried about something that could end us, brother, I'd be more worried about him than the cure."

Klaus nodded, mulling over Kol's words. He could do as his brother said, slaughter everyone who knew anything about the cure. Melt down the sword. Forget about all of it. But it would cost him his deal with Caroline and it wouldn't even guarantee that this immortal his brother feared would stay buried.

"All right, so waking this Silas would be bad." Klaus said.

"Very."

"So then we find the cure and use it to put down Silas so we can be sure he never rises." Klaus said. "Two birds, one stone."

"No." Shane protested. Klaus walked over to the professor and snapped his neck with a clean, swift jerk.

"Ah, that's better." Klaus smiled. "I found him rather weasely, didn't you?"

The Bennet witch screamed into her duct tape gag and the pretty werewolf watched him with wide eyed horror.

"I don't think this is wise," Kol said, "what if we fail?"

"When I want something," Klaus smirked, "I find a way to make it happen. You should know that better than most." Klaus pulled out a dagger and rolled it over slowly in his hand, "So tell me, brother, are you with me, or are you standing in my way?"

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><p><strong>So, writer confession... When I'm writing Klaus's lines, I'm totally muttering them out loud in his voice! P.S. I do a terrible Klaus impression, but it helps me get into the character! <strong>

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